On Sunday 15 April 2007 11:51, lists.plug@mas.ml1.net wrote:
>I'm starting a personal project, though,
> that requires a unix-ish environment; specifically, playing with Swarm
> (www.swarm.org).
Why not just download the windows release?
http://www.swarm.org/wiki/Swarm:_stable_release#Windows_binaries
It's based on cygwin, which is a UNIX-like environment for Windows.
http://www.cygwin.com/
> So I'm considering setting up Parallels (www.parallels.com) on my
> Windows box, which has a dual-core Intel CPU and 2GB of RAM, so
> shouldn't really be resource-constrained.
If you can't run the cygwin-based release, try the Free (GPL) QEMU VM
instead of Parallels or VMWare. Get the all-in-one installer (with GUI)
from:
http://www.davereyn.co.uk/index.htm
if you don't mind the less-than-straightforward install process, It might
be better not to use a VM at all and use CoLinux instead. CoLinux is a
linux kernel modified to run directly atop Windows and may give you
better results.
http://colinux.wikia.com/
> Now for my question: I'm looking for a distro that will be relatively
> painless to set up on this VM. Distro technology has moved on a lot
> since I was a sysadmin and I don't know anymore how the various distros
> compare as far as ease of configuration is concerned. So I solicit the
> list for recommendations or advice.
> Thanks very much.
I'd strongly recommend using Debian, as it can provide you with only the
bare minimum you need, doesn't require tinkering to get a working system,
and is exceedingly robust.